By NNN-KUNA,
Washington : President George W. Bush will welcome Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House on Friday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino announced here.
Bush looks forward to discussing with Abbas “our shared efforts toward peace in the Middle East, including progress in building capable Palestinian institutions, fostering economic development, and training and deploying Palestinian security forces in the West Bank,” Perino said during a White House briefing Tuesday.
Bush, who met with outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the White House last month, will leave office in a month, apparently without achieving his stated goal of creating a peace pact between Israel and Palestine that would have included establishment of a viable, independent Palestinian state.